“It was this day, 3 years ago, that the Heavenly Child was born to those people whom she recognized – her parents. They named her Sophie, & that is why we celebrate today, Sophie’s birthday.”
- Me, telling my rendition of the Beyond the Rainbow Bridge Birthday Story



We have been honouring Sophie’s 3rd birthday all week.

On the actual day, we spent a lovely quiet day home as a family. This was after careful contemplation, considering what we wanted for Sophie to get out of her special day, what she likes to do and her temperament. Last year we had a huge party with friends & family in Nova Scotia…but that was more for us – the grown ups – than for her. Now that she has a greater awareness of what a birthday is, we chose not to have a party or to travel. Originally we were going to go to a Fiber Festival in New York; instead we opted to do one later in the season in Vermont. That way we could stay home & let her soak in her day.



Party girls. :) Sophie was very proud & took in the day almost stoically. She really reminded me of her grandmother (my late mother) – very pleased with the preparations but very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. Just soaked it all up with a quiet fortitude.



The birthday ring was waiting for her at the breakfast table.



Lighting the 3 candles, and blowing them out. :)







Gluten free pancakes with fresh blueberries for breakfast – a favourite by both the girls. What are they like? Taste pretty much like the traditional ones. :)



Cake makers. My two lovely assistants. :)





Sharing a “meal” while the cake bakes.



Time to decorate!



To decorate the cake, we used blueberries & chocolate chips. I started by placing them round the top & bottom to give her an example to follow. Sophie then took over.



Hmmmm….careful, detailed & deliberate. That is Sophie! :)





Posing with her masterpiece. :)

Sophie asked that we put candles in her cake as well…so candle blow out, part two… :)







Pass the cake!

The most memorable moment for me was bedtime. You see I was trying to find just the right time during the day to tell the Beyond the Rainbow Bridge birthday story. To paraphrase, it is the story about how one day a heavenly child notices earth & wants to live there, and so chooses her future parents. Then one day when they are ready, the heavenly child & her angel travel across the rainbow bridge, down the spiral staircase & through the gates to be born to those familiar people & that is why the day is celebrated in her honor. You can see different versions of this story in Barbara Patterson’s Beyond the Rainbow Bridge. It is not a story meant to be read to your child but to be adapted & told in your own words…

So, at bed time, we sang our usual “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. Ava went to sleep almost immediately. I had told Sophie earlier that we would be telling a special story, but she did not seem to be interested – in fact she downright rejected the idea once I put her in bed. So as I kissed her goodnight & got up to leave, I heard her little voice whisper to me, “I want to hear story”. So I crawled into bed with her, & told her…

Her reaction, was not what I expected, at all. I thought she would enjoy the story, but – she hung onto my every word. At the end, she wiped tears from her eyes & flung her arms around me in a big hug. We held each other for sometime crying sentimental tears together. It is such a powerful reminder, that we cannot under estimate what our young children understand, or the depth of their own spirituality.

It was indeed, the perfect day. Happy Birthday, dear Sophie. Welcome to year 3!